Various devices have been invented which operate to create pleasant sounding musical notes when passed over by a breeze. Such devices are commonly known as wind chimes. Although much enjoyment can be derived from wind chimes, little has been accomplished towards allowing hearing impaired individuals to share that enjoyment through alternative forms of cognitive stimulation. In addition, novel devices have been patented which use physical motion of some type to cause a light or an assortment of lights to flash or illuminate in synchronism to the physical movement. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,457 which discloses jewelry which intermittently lights in response to movement of the wearer. Also see U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,640 for decorative light flashing apparatus which responds to impulse type sounds. In addition, see U.S. Pat. No. 2,572,760 which discloses an illuminated shoe device which flashes a light in synchronism to the wearer's footsteps. None of these above-cited patents, however, use physical movement induced by ambient air currents to produce pleasantly sounding musical notes. In addition, none disclose a decorative apparatus which coordinates the illumination of associated lamps to flash in synchronism with their associated musical note, thereby producing a stimulating show of lights and musical notes triggered by the movement of air.
It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide a light synchronized musical chime which is activated by the wind
A further object of this invention is to provide a portable, decorative illuminated wind chime which allows the hearing impaired to enjoy the visual analog of the sounds of a wind chime.
It is another object of this invention to provide a practical light and sound synchronized wind chime through the use of an electronic sensing circuit which causes each light to illuminate for a duration proportional to its respective chime's resonant time constant.